


Last One Home

by bethagain



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Original Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Post-Apocalypse, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-08
Updated: 2017-01-08
Packaged: 2018-09-15 15:11:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9241037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bethagain/pseuds/bethagain
Summary: The Empire’s reduced to fragments, but the battle was so fierce that there’s basically nothing left.Han sees the galaxy winding down, and he thinks about what he's asking of his friend.It's time to take Chewbacca home.





	

**Author's Note:**

> _Thinking about Fic I Wrote This Past Year, just realized this was still sitting on tumblr. Moving it over here in case it's of interest to anyone (jump in and add more???) and also so it's easier to pick up again, maybe, someday._
> 
> _This came out of riffing with folks on tumblr about a very 80s Mark Hamill photo that struck me as a post-apoc aesthetic. (Blame my Mad Max obsession.) Thank you to culturevulture73 for the inspiration re Han taking Chewie home._
> 
> Picture:
> 
> The Empire’s reduced to fragments, but the battle was so fierce that there’s basically nothing left. X-wings are held together with spit and salvaged parts. Blasters can only be used sparingly: power cells are hard to come by, and there are so few places to recharge. 
> 
> Uniforms are ragged. Pilots fly with cracked helmets, or without helmets at all. Life support packs are more like prayers.
> 
> They’re still farming on the Outer Rim worlds (when the weather cooperates), but it’s hard to find a freighter to carry supplies to the scorched planets in the Core. Not enough ships, not enough fuel, and a good chance the nav computer will fail before it exits hyperspace.
> 
> There's still hope, Luke says, Leia says. But Han sees her quietly going hungry so the troops can eat. He hears Luke on the subspace radio pretending everything’s fine so his pilots won’t worry, even though they’re low on fuel. Maybe the homing beacon’s just broken, but Han knows Luke's listening to a different silence: more likely, the colony they’re headed for is already dead and gone. 
> 
> Han's been taking more and more dangerous jobs, in trade for parts just to keep the Falcon running. 
> 
> It's ending, Han thinks. Force knows I love Leia, I love Luke, but they can't see, won't see.
> 
> Somebody winning means somebody loses. Han always thought those two things were separate. Opposite. A simple truth, clear as a power switch, off or on. 
> 
> He'll adapt, as he always has. He knows now that defeat can live in victory. He'll make his choices, as best he can.

The _Falcon_ lands on Kashyyyk. 

Homes are built on the ground now, out of charred wood because the trees have burned. There is wheat growing in the ashy soil, but it’s stunted. It’s yellow where it should be green, seeds grey instead of rich brown.

Chewbacca and Han walk down the ramp together. But at the bottom Han holds back, letting Chewie step first onto his homeworld’s soil.

It’s the first moment of letting his friend go.

The fur of the dozen Wookiees who come out to greet them is the wrong color, too, dusty and patchy and dull. A child approaches Chewbacca with hands outstretched. In her palms is a single, withered alcoari fruit.

There are no alcoari trees to be seen.

Chewbacca leans down, accepts the gift. He takes a bite. An alcoari fruit should be full of sweet juice that sticks in your fur and turns your hands purple. This one is empty, except for one single drop that lands on his empty bandolier.

Chewie offers the rest of the fruit to the child but she shakes her head. “It’s the last one,” says a thin, greying Wookiee behind her. “We saved it. In case anyone else ever came home.”

Han watches his friend kneel, watches him wrap long arms around the child and bow his head to hers.

Han steps off the ramp, finally, standing on Kashyyyk soil for the first time in so many years. He lays a hand on Chewie’s shoulder and Chewie reaches back to cover Han’s hand with his.

 

In the cockpit of the _Falcon_ , Han engages the repulsor lifts. The ship rises in near-silence, barely stirring the air above the tiny group. Below him, Chewbacca is still there, holding the Wookiee child, as Han shifts over to sublight engines and the _Falcon_ heads back to the stars.


End file.
